iTunes Rewind 2011

This week Apple revealed its iTunes Rewind for 2011, showing the best of the best in music apps, television, movies, books, and podcasts of the year.

Each year, the iTunes Rewind reveals the top content that has been hand-selected by the staff at Apple, but also the purchases that shined throughout the year.

The winners aren’t surprising.

Best Music, Overall Album, Overall Song

Adele trumped the iTunes airwaves this year with her emotion-filled powerful voice. Her style of R and B, excellent song writing, and simplistic beauty brought her to the top with nearly 200 ratings. Her album 21 won out as the Best Overall Album, and her single, Rolling in the Deep — a song about moving up after a painful breakup — topped as number one for Best Overall Song.

On the Canadian side of things, Feist won with the Best Overall Canadian Album. Metals is a far cry from Feist’s previous albums, with an emotional tribute and excellent band behind her.

Nicki Minaj’s Pink Friday got the most downloads and ratings (537!) and taking her claim as the Best New Artist. Even better, many guests are featured on her debut, including Rihanna, Kanye West, Drake, and Eminem.

Best Movies

Looking for the best movies of the year? These are definitely some winners. If you haven’t checked out the greatest book to movie adaptation, its about time. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows has won as the Best Final Act, not surprisingly. If you’ve not seen the finale, download it now, and if you have, well, might as well take the time to watch the whole series from the beginning.

One of my favorite movies, Bridesmaids wins as the Best Comedy. Far from chick flick, this hilarious movie is undoubtedly the funniest of the year.

If you’re not want to move toward documentaries, we encourage you to think again when it comes to the winner in the Best Documentary category. Project Nim is a beautiful look at an indignity committed by humanity in the name of science.

The Best Animation is brought to Rango, an animated western film for kids and adults alike. With Johnny Depp as the voice of the main character, its not surprising its a winner.

Check out the full rewind for winners on Action and Adventure, Canadiana, Mockumentary, and more.

Best Television Shows

When it comes to TV, we already have our favorite shows and episodes, and if you don’t tune into these already, we recommend you do.

Season Four of Breaking Bad is the winner of Best Drama, featuring Walt in a tragic state trying his best to stay ahead of everyone. And the finale? Oh.. You just wait.

The Best Comedy is swept by Modern Family. And with all of its Emmy wins, its not a surprise. The third season finds itself on a dude ranch, with more details about the families and cleverly crafted stories.

The Royal Wedding wins out as the best Global TV Event. Whether you love them, hate them, or love to hate them, it was a huge spectacle that brought joy, tears, and love to a whole new level.

Best Podcasts

I love listening to podcasts, and 2011 definitely had some great new ones and all-time favorites with excellent episodes. I love that the CBC won two of the categories: Best New Audio Podcast went to The Age of Persuasion from CBC Radio, which answers the question: why do we want the things we want? The Best Audio Podcast went to Stuart McLean and his show the Vinyl Cafe Stories from CBC Radio, a long standing favorite of stories of Dave and Morley.

The Best Video Podcast goes straight to TEDTalks, which houses the motto “Ideas Worth Spreading”. The non-profit TED films speeches at its Conferences and Events, with topics including technology and science.

Other winners include The Ricky Gervais Podcast as one of the Best Comedy selections, Piers Morgan Tonight as a Best New News and Politics podcast, and What’s This Food as a Best New Arts winner. The latter is a great one if you’re unfamiliar: every day, Daniel Delaney picks a new, unfamiliar, or unusual food to learn about and cook with.

What are your favorites from 2011? Do you agree with the winners or know of some hidden gems?